Chris Pratt still has that loveable, well-developed personality one will often find lurking within the physique of a fellow individual who didn’t get by on good looks and sensual smirks. One can even argue it being the reason he gets to host the season premiere of SNL (and not the immense success his career is currently seeing).
Pratt’s inspired his fellow average Joe’s who enjoy the simpler pleasures in life, like not eating healthy all the time, to reassess the bodies they see staring back at them off a mirror first thing in the morning. There’s an overriding, glaring issue present from the get-go though, where do we start?
1. Cut back on the booze.
It’ll be tough. The boys will be looking to go out, knock back a few pints, and throw out a few pick up lines on a weeknight under the guise of some liquid courage. Stick to water, or treat yourself to a soda water with a couple slices of lime – next to no calories, and you get to sit there and laugh your ass off at what Jack Daniels with ‘I have no idea what to say when I actually walk up to her’ looks like. If this isn’t reason enough consider the following published findings from the 1992 “New England Journal of Medicine,” in which Dr. Paolo Suter and colleagues discovered alcohol impairs the metabolism on fats up to 57% during the 24-hour period following original consumption. With the body not able to oxidize fats at full capacity, higher levels of fat storage ensue and the body’s ability to employ these very stored fats during a workout is as an effect greatly diminished.
2. Drag yourself to the gym every other day.
A day spent in the gym hiding in a playlist compiled to drone out whatever it is they’re always playing in fitness centers (definitely not music), burning off pent-up work stress steam while shedding calories is a day of success.
Try to mix up cardio and weight lifting, and if you don’t mind running on the treadmill attempt a ‘hill’ workout. Just a slight incline on your run, works wonders for the amount of calories you’ll burn.
3. Eat healthier.
You don’t have to take to grazing out back, or gnawing on carrots or celery as if you’ve been living in a tank void of food altogether – but the occasional salad swapped for steak and a side of fries might take the stress off the heart, and that significant other worried about the heart.
"I actually lost weight by eating more food, but eating the right food, eating healthy foods, and so when I was done with the movie my body hadn't been in starvation mode," Pratt told People magazine. "It wasn't like I was triggered to just gorge myself and get really fat again."
4. Find a health app. Dedicate yourself to it.
There are apps for everything that encompasses a human’s existence these days, and it’s kind of terrifying. The bright side of it all is the once rudimentary calorie counter has been refined, and improved upon to such an extent you might just have fun using it. My favorite of these modern day fitness app marvels is ‘Zombies, Run!’ An ongoing routine that includes fortified dedication to cardio can take its toll on the mind, body, and soul. There’ll be days when you’ll just not feel like running to the beat of the same playlist you’ve been listening to for the last three weeks, and this is when a simple resolution presents itself; zombies. The app masterfully crafts a personal narrative involving you making a run for from a pack of ravenous zombies. It’s as if you’re striding alongside Brad Pitt in World War Z with the fate of humankind dependent on your ability to go that extra mile. What’s not to love? For just a few bucks you’ll be shedding weight through consistent cardio, and somehow having fun while doing it.
5. Coffee before working out.
Some scientific studies suggest coffee before a workout burns more fat, and if it comes out this is really so – that’s great. My uneducated theory is a cup ‘o joe before a solid workout can either jet fuel or combust that active individual. Sometimes coffee’s and long runs only breed stomachaches, and burning regrets; while other times that mug of coffee was just the extra kick you needed to finish up that weight circuit on a high note. Learn through trial and error, or play it safe; this one’s up to you.
The road to a toned body isn’t an easy one, and some of us might say to the hell with the road altogether, and take a pit stop at the nearest diner serving pies and hand-dipped milkshakes. But the truth of it all is, we can live out healthier lifestyles and that doesn’t always mean taking to the free-weights or cardio machines in a gym. Maybe it’ll be biking every other day to work, or taking the dog for a walk after work because you both need it – but point is, exercise can seamlessly incorporate itself into our day to day lifestyle, it’s just a matter of deciding what form and when we’ll take it on.
